Link Has a New Trusty Steed in Mario Kart 8 DLC on Nov 13

The first DLC pack for Mario Kart 8 will arrive on Nov. 13 with Link as a new racer and more racing tracks.

Link has ditched his trusty steed Epona for a motorcyle. Saving Hyrule over and over can get stressful, but Link looks so happy, racing other Nintendo characters in Mario Kart 8. Nintendo announced that the first pack of Mario Kart 8 DLC will release on Nov. 13, the day Link will make his racing debut.

Also included in the DLC pack are eight new tracks: Hyrule from Legend of Zelda, Mute City from F-Zero, Excitebike Arena from Excitebike, Rainbow Road from the SNES Mario Kart, Dragon Driftway, Yoshi Circuit (from Mario Kart: Double Dash), Wario's Gold Mine (from Mario Kart Wii), and Ice Ice Outpost. These 8 tracks make up two new cups, the Triforce Cup and the Egg cup.

In addition to Link, the DLC pack also has a cat suit for Peach and a tanooki suit for Mario. The second DLC pack, available in May 2015, will add Animal Crossing: New Leaf's Villager and Isabelle, as well as Dry Bowser.

In last night's Nintendo Direct, the company explained Mario Kart 8 will have Amiibo support for 10 figures. Scanning the Amiibo for Mario, Peach, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Captain Falcon, Fox, Samus, or Kirby will allow the Mii racer to adopt a new racing suit based on the design of that character. The Amiibo update for Mario Kart 8 also arrives on Nov. 13, and the first set of Amiibo figurines will be on sale at select retailers on Nov. 21. Captain Falcon and Luigi are a part of the second set, available in December.

The first DLC pack also adds four new vehicles: the Blue Falcon (from F-Zero), the Master Cycle (based on Legend of Zelda), the B Dasher, and the Tanooki Kart.

Separately the packs cost $7.99, but together they cost $11.99 include eight new colors for Yoshi and Shy Guy.